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Catholic Charities Receives EXPEDITED National Accreditation

(Palm Beach Gardens, FL) July 7, 2016 – Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Palm Beach, Inc. has achieved national accreditation through the New York-based Council on Accreditation (COA). Catholic Charities provides services to more than 20,500 unduplicated clients each year through 13 programs and ministries. It took Catholic Charities 8 months to complete the reaccreditation process. Organizations pursue accreditation to demonstrate the implementation of best practice standards in the field of human services.

COA accreditation is an objective, independent, and reliable validation of an agency’s performance. The COA accreditation process involves a detailed review and analysis of an organization’s administration, management, and service delivery functions against international standards of best practice. The standards driving accreditation ensure that services are well-coordinated, culturally competent, evidence-based, outcomes-oriented, and provided by a skilled and supported workforce. COA accreditation demonstrates accountability in the management of resources, sets standardized best practice thresholds for service and administration, and increases organizational capacity and accountability by creating a framework for ongoing quality improvement.

To achieve COA accreditation, Catholic Charities first provided written evidence of compliance with more than 600 COA standards within the agencies 10 programs.  Thereafter, a group of three specially trained volunteer Peer Reviewers confirmed adherence to these standards during a series of on-site interviews with trustees, staff and clients which lasted three days.

Based on their findings, COA’s volunteer-based Accreditation Commission voted that Catholic Charities had successfully met the criteria for accreditation.  In addition, the agency was expedited through the Pre-Commission Review Report (PCR) process as a result of not receiving any out of compliance ratings in any of the fundamental practice standards.  According to the Council on Accreditation this is an “amazing achievement.”

Executive Director, Sheila Gomez, shared her appreciation of the CC staff for their hard work and commitment in this four year accreditation, for completing an in-depth review of our adherence to over 600 standards, and delivering the highest quality services to the community. 

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About Catholic Charities

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Palm Beach provides 12 social services and ministries throughout 8 locations in the Diocese of Palm Beach. Established in 1984, Catholic Charities responds to the needs of the poor and most vulnerable by providing quality programs that serve children, families, and homeless. Catholic Charities of the five-county Diocese of Palm Beach respects life in all of its stages. In living our faith, we create hope for people in need, without regard to religion. Through our programs and ministries, we empower individuals, deliver social services and collaborate with others in building just and compassionate communities. Visit www.catholiccharitiesdpb.org

 

About the Diocese of Palm Beach

The Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach encompasses the five counties of Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee. Comprised of 280,000 Catholics in 53 parishes and missions, the Diocese also serves the faithful community through its schools. Visit www.diocesepb.org

 

About COA

Founded in 1977, COA is an independent, not-for-profit accreditor of the full continuum of community-based behavioral health care and social service organizations in the United States and Canada. Over 2,000 organizations — voluntary, public, and proprietary; local and statewide; large and small — have either successfully achieved COA accreditation or are currently engaged in the process. Presently, COA has a total of 47 service standards that are applicable to over 125 different types of programs. To learn more about COA, please visit www.COAnet.org

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